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Racist Tacos — South Carolina spreading joy

Just once, just once I would love for my home state to make the national news for something that wasn’t embarrassing.

In West Columbia, on the route to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, nestled between a nail salon and a bingo joint, there is a tiny taco restaurant called Taco Cid. I’ve never been, but I might have to go now, just to see if I can get a glimpse of the racist t-shirt making the national “make fun of South Carolina” rounds.

This shirt is worn by the employees and sold by the restaurant to any interested buyer (via Corey Hutchins of the Free Times):

Our t-shirts were created as a witty and comical statement regarding ILLEGAL immigrants. There are NO racial nor hate remarks towards any specific ethnic group.

Taco Cid and its employees are not racist. We will serve EVERY individual with the same quality of service, respect in a friendly and welcoming manner.

Our food is fresh and prepared and served in the SAME QUALITY and QUANTITY, regardless of your race, religion or political views.

As most tax paying Americans, we do believe ILLEGAL immigrants are taxing the system we support and live under, thereby, causing us to work harder and pay more taxes in support of their illegal activities which our government has simply chosen to look the other way. Is it racist to disagree with those who are not supporting the American system?

We are an equal opportunity employer and will hire anyone who meets our needs and is a legal citizen or immigrant. We do not hire illegal immigrants. Our employees pay taxes.

We are open Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays — in observance of a day of worship.

If you do not agree with our views on ILLEGAL immigrants, please do not visit our establishment. If you agree with our view on American Equality in citizenship and tax fairness, then show your support and come join us for lunch or dinner.

The thing is, though, that immigrants in this country without permission are committing a civil offense, not a criminal one — calling an undocumented immigrant illegal is inherently marginalizing. So the site just really compounds racist comment upon racist comment. Not to mention the fact that immigrants bring a workforce that SC farms need to function, and thereby generate revenue. Something that SC, which languishes as one of the most impoverished states in the nation, desperately needs.

Comments

The thing is, though, that immigrants in this country without permission are committing a civil offense, not a criminal one — calling an undocumented immigrant illegal is inherently marginalizing.

Sorry but this is wrong. They commit both a civil offense and a criminal one.

8 USC 1325 (a):
(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who
(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or
(2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

Moreover, even if they were only committing a civil offense, that is still “illegal” by the definition of the term. Calling someone who violates the law as doing something “illegal” is just the truth. But calling everyone who opposes illegal immigration a “racist” is just a flat-out lie. There are good arguments about changing our immigration policy. But calling opponents “racist” is just a lazy way to avoid the issues.

This racist Tshirt is racist, these racist store owners are racist, and I’m having doubts about you right now, DeepThought, wondering why it’s so important to you to defend racism. If you don’t think this is racist, I’m telling you that you’re wrong. Very, very wrong. If you don’t see that, I don’t know what to tell you.

Based on what I’ve seen with my undocumented friends here in the wilds of West Texas, Taco Cid would likely have to charge $3.50 each for their plain-jane taco, and $2.50 for a glass of milk if they kept ILLEGAL taco fans out of the country. And Thor help them if they lose their roof in a hailstorm…..

No se habla ingles at the local dairy – and they all get taxes withheld from their checks just like I do. But their checks are smaller than mine, and the guy I know well doesn’t file a return to get a refund. The refund could lead to a ticket back to Dolores Hidalgo, you see, and the coyote wants about $2500 to sneak him back up here when that happens. I’m betting it’s more than that to get back to the slaughterhouses in Kansas and Nebraska.

Illegals do nearly all the hard and dirty work in this corner of the US. And, in some of my limited spoiled white-guy looking on vacation this summer, that could be the case on, say, Cape Hattaras as well.

Despite it’s obvious derailing attempt, DeepThought’s comment does offer a nice example of intersectionality, and how it can play into an issue like this.

If you challenge an obviously racist bit of tripe like this, the opponents of immigration reform shift to talking about the illegality of the situation, and how the undocumented workers are taking jobs away from “real Americans”.

However, when you come back with the fact that they’re taking jobs Americans have shown no willingness to do at those wages (which, surprisingly, are often at or even above minimum wage–there’s a lovely little tale about the farms that grow about 80% of the pumpkins grown for canning in the U.S.), and demonstrate that the economic benefits of ‘fresh blood’ who are basically seeking to follow the classic “American Dream” route are actually quite strong, then they start talking about culture and language (and thus, indirectly, about race).

And this is bullshit. If I’m against immigration reform (which I’m not, necessarily), then I must, ipso facto, also be defending the racism of the restaurant owners. Bullshit.

Sorry, arguments for immigration reform must be made on their own merits. The fact that a few of your opponents are racist doesn’t make you automatically right. You’d think this point would be obvious on a skeptical forum.

And I’m also tired of the idea that anything anyone, who is a member of a marginalized group, does, carries with it an ipso facto justification. Illegal immigrants who came, or remained here, did so in full knowledge of the fact they had no right to be here.

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The T-shirt is pure ignorant and is in the violation of freedom of speech. This is a thing called “common sense” and this is totally a racist advertisement. The restaurant should be closed down for this such act. This is proof that all members and customers that support them are racist.

The fact that you decided to bring this up in the discussion of a blatantly racist attack on illegal immigrants makes it clear you had no purpose here other than derailing. this isn’t a discussion about the overall merits and possible approaches to immigration reform; it’s about a bunch of racists who decided to live up to the worst stereotypes of the South.